Recommended Related to Cold & Flu

A hacking cough, a throbbing head, a sore throat, and a nose so stuffed it feels as if you'll never breathe free and clear again. You've got a cold -- or maybe even the flu -- and all you want to do is crawl in bed and sleep.
Until you get there. That's when you realize your symptoms are turning any chance for a solid night's rest into the impossible dream.
"It's true that many cold and flu symptoms seem to get worse at night, and they can interfere with sleep just at the critical time when your...

Beginning Cold Symptoms

Usually, there is no fever with the common cold. In fact, fever and more severe symptoms may indicate that you have the flu or a bacteria infection and not a cold.

For the first few days of a cold, your nose drips with watery nasal secretions. Later, these secretions may become thicker and darker.

A mild cough is a common cold symptom and may last into the second week of your cold. If you have asthma or other lung problem, a cold may make it worse. Talk to your health care provider to see if you need to modify your asthma treatment plan or need additional treatment.

Common cold symptoms usually start between one and three days after you are infected by a cold virus. Typically, they last for about three to seven days. At that point, the worst is over, but you may feel congested for a week or more. During the first three days that you have cold symptoms, you are most contagious; however, colds are often contagious through the first week. This means you can pass the cold virus to those you come in contact with.